52 Prof. E. B. Poulton— TAe Collections 



"... I have kept my original plan always in view, and 

 had advanced thus far on my way to Peru &c. when letters 

 from Fulham overtook me, stating that my dear father's 

 health, from the infirmities natural to his age, was gradually 

 declining, and that it was his wish and that of the rest of the 

 family that I should return directly to England. Whatever 

 regret I may feel at thus relinquishing my American travels, 

 and whatever disappointment I may experience from a prema- 

 ture return, I have no hesitation whatever in preferring filial 

 duty to science and the gratification of my own inclinations. 

 I have therefore greatly altered my plans, and instead of 

 ending this journey at Beunos Ayres, shall, Deo volente, end 

 it at Pard, where I shall embark for England." 



Burchell was not destined to see his father again, for 

 Matthew Burchell died soon after this letter was written, on 

 July 12, 1828. 



An excellent brief account of the Brazilian journey is given 

 in a letter to Sir William Hooker, written from Burchell's 

 home at Churchfield House, Fulham. Much of it is printed 

 in 'Hooker's Botanical Miscellany' (vol. ii. 1831, pp. 128- 

 133). The original letter, together with the others which 

 have been made use of on the present occasion, are preserved 

 in the Herbarium of the Royal Gardens at Kew. The letter 

 is dated Nov. 1, 1830 :— 



" I left England in March 1825, passed two months at 

 Lisbon and in the vicinity : landed at Rio de Janeiro in July, 

 where I continued making collections in botany, entomology, 

 and geology, &c., till Sept. 1826, during which period I 

 visited a part of Minas Geraes. While at Rio I made some 

 drawings of landscape, among which was a panorama taken 

 from a hill in the middle of the city ; many astronomical, 

 philosophical, and geodetical observations. I finally quitted 

 Rio in Sept. 1826, and proceeded by sea to Santos, where I 

 remained three months^ and then proceeded and took up my 

 station in a solitary hut in the midst of forests at the foot of 

 the great range of mountains, for the purpose of exploring 

 them at leisure. My next station or headquarters was at the 

 city of S. Paulo, nearly under the tropic of Capricorn, where 

 I remained about seven months, extending my excursions in 

 various directions. Having there purchased a troop of mules 

 and engaged the requisite muleteers, I travelled northward, 

 and finally took up my station at tlie city of Goyaz, being 

 the first and only Englishman who has entered that province. 

 There 1 passed the rainy season of 1827 and made large 

 collections, being detained there nine months, owing chiefly 

 to the difficulty of finding the means of conveyance for my 



